Doc Number: ARA2023-00008 Date: June 9, 2023
Release Overview
This firmware release 1.1.0.23 is a general release to be used for the complete Arable Mark 2 fleet. It consolidates several point releases since the last general release 1.1.0.19 and as such we will cover all the main changes since then in these release notes.
The firmware 1.1.0.23 is compatible with Arable Mark 2 hardware Rev 3.94, 3.93, 3.91, 3.1 and 3.0 as well as Environmental Sensor Board up to and including the latest Rev 4 TH Board.
- The Arable Mark 2 Rev 3.91 and above are validated for use with AT&T in the US and globally.
- Arable Mark 2 Rev 3.1 is to be used for Telstra in Australia.
- The 5W Solar Panel SKU 850-0024 can only be used with Arable Mark 2 Rev 3.94 and 3.93.
An hourly sync interval is set by default on the Arable Mark 3.The use of Arable Mark 2 with a 20-min sync interval for faster weather alerts is enabled on a per request only. You can reach out to Arable Customer Success at support@arable.com or via the Help icon in the Arable Mobile/Web to enable this on a per unit basis.
|
Date |
June 9, 2023 |
|
Device Compatibility |
Arable Mark 2 Rev 3.94, 3.93, 3.91, 3.1 and 3.0 |
|
TH Board Compatibility |
Rev 1 - 4 |
|
Module Compatibility |
Quectel BG-95 M5: Quectel BG95M5LAR02A03_01.008.01.008 (AT&T) Quectel BG96MAR02A07M1G (AT&T 02A07_01.016 & Telstra 02A08M1GA) |
|
Sensor Compatibility |
Davis Wind Anemometer 6410 and 7911 GEMS PS41 Series Pressure Switch Sentek Drill and Drop Soil Moisture Probe |
|
Firmware OTA Compatibility |
Over-the-air upgrade is supported from all recent releases (1.1.0.19, 1.1.0.20 and 1.1.0.22). Only 1.1.0.13 exempted that needs to be upgraded to 1.1.0.14 first |
|
Markets |
For General Deployment: Argentina (AT&T 2G and Telecom Personal LTE-M) Australia (Telstra LTE-M) Brazil (AT&T 2G) and (Claro LTE-M) Canada (LTE-M AT&T) Chile (AT&T 2G) Colombia (AT&T 2G) Ecuador (AT&T 2G) France (LTE-M & 2G AT&T) Germany (2G AT&T) Mexico (LTE-M & 2G AT&T) Peru (2G AT&T) Poland (2G AT&T) Spain (2G AT&T) UK (AT&T 2G) Ukraine (2G-AT&T) Uruguay (2G-AT&T) US (LTE-M AT&T) |
|
Impact |
High |
|
Type |
General Release |
|
Version |
1.1.0.23 |
List of Changes
New Features
|
Description |
|
The 1.1.0.23 release adds support for Telecom Personal SIM card and LTE-M subscription in Argentina. |
|
A capability for turning on and sending actual audio recording files up to the Arable cloud system has been enabled in the 1.1.0.23 release. This is primarily for internal use in the Arable CalVal network but will over time help to improve further our rainfall models for the Arable Mark |
|
Previous 1.1.0.22 first introduced something called Assisted-GPS or A-GPS. This is a capability to get GPS coordinates faster and more reliably by asking over the cellular network for the best satellite to use. This capability will now more widely get deployed with 1.1.0.23. |
|
Earlier on 1.1.0.20 also introduced a capability to send the horizontal estimation error and precision of the GPS reading to the Arable Cloud System, which then can use this to ignore any reading that has low accuracy. This capability will now more widely get deployed with 1.1.0.23. |
|
In 1.1.0.22, we introduced a capability called Adaptive Carrier Selection. The default network selection logic of the modem in the Arable Mark favors a network based on pure signal strength. This can be misleading as other factors like signal noise can influence what is best for application data sending. With the new Adaptive Carrier Selection feature, the Arable Mark is optimizing for application throughput and stability and the default modem selection logic is only used as fallback. This capability will now more widely get deployed with 1.1.0.23. |
|
Finally, 1.1.0.20 has introduced support for a new Rev 4 TH Board that has an improved water-sealing and corrosion resistance. 1.1.0.23 is supporting both old and new TH Boards. |
Defect Fixes
|
Description |
|
The Arable Mark is capturing rainfall data based on audio input from droplets falling on the top dome. These are quantified into bin counts for different droplet sizes. Each bin was previously represented by 8 bits (up to 256 count per measurement interval). This has now been extended to 16 bits (65,536 counts per measurement interval). This change is expected to help in some very high intensity rain scenarios and especially in the low range droplet size bin. |
|
A reset 9 is occurring if the network conditions are challenging for the Mark. This can help to get on the network again, but has a negative side effect in that it can cause up to a few minutes of missed data collection. In order to optimize the balance between the two, the number of reset9s have been reduced by changing the retry timer. |
Known Issues
|
Description |
|
In order to ensure season-long operations of the Arable Mark 2, it is recommended to charge the unit before deployment and to deploy with the external Arable Solar panel connected. |
|
The battery percentage value for the Arable Mark 2 can temporarily dip to zero if the system gas gauge resets. It will go back up to its actual value after a few minutes of retraining. At low voltage levels, close to the 3.1kV communications cut-off, the battery voltage can fluctuate widely and preemptively show zero even though it is possible to send data for a few more hours. |
|
The Mark 2 uses Satellite-based GPS to detect its location. If the unit is placed indoors, where no GPS signal can be retrieved, it will not be able to provide the correct location coordinates. This will in turn impact the user interface display in the Arable Web and the Arable Mobile. While we are exploring back-up capabilities for latitude/longitude retrieval, it is recommended for now to make / re-initiate the deployment outdoors after indoor charging for full feature use. |
|
There can be a small drift of a few seconds between the data collection windows in the Mark 2. This does not prevent the correct operations on the Arable Web and Mobile UI at an hourly time scale, but API users should be aware of this when aligning Mark data with other sources. |